Somalia shares preventive gadgets donated by Jack Ma with Somaliland

Somali government has shared consignment of preventive equipment to Puntland regional state and The defacto republic of Somaliland amid novel Coronavirus cases rise.

According to the Somali health ministry, the equipment to prevent the spread of Coronavirus was both distributed to Puntland states and Somaliland.

The equipments were donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma to 54 African countries in the Africa Union.

Somaliland is not part of the AU but declared its independence of the rest of the Somali Republic in 1991 after Dictator Siyad Barre was ousted from office.

No coronavirus case has been reported in Somaliland.

A Twitter post by the ministry reads.“The federal government of Somali distributed COVID-19 equipment to Somaliland and Puntland with transportation support from @WFPSomalia,” 

The ministry also plans to send more to other regional states in the country.

“Other Federal Member States will get their shares in the coming days. Thanks to Jack Ma Foundation (@foundation_ma ) for their generous support,” the ministry said.

Somali prime minister Hassan Ali Kheire lauded the move by the ministry, calling for cooperation to fight against the disease.

“We have today dispatched to #Somaliland & #Puntland first batch of #Covid-19 preventive equipment. #Hirshabelle, #SouthWest, #Jubaland & #Galmudug will be next. The magnitude of this moment calls Nationwide support and cooperation,” he said.

Somalia has so far confirmed three cases of Coronavirus since mid this month.

The United Nations in Somalia confirmed on Friday that an employee of a commercial contractor engaged by the UN has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said the contractor has been in quarantine for eight days prior to diagnosis and that medical professionals are interviewing the individual to trace contacts.

“Our priorities are the care of the contractor and to prevent the further spread of the virus,” UNSOM said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The statement came a day after Somalia reported its second confirmed COVID-19 case.

The ministry is also tracing people who traveled with the first patient on the same flight, noting that a toll-free number 449 has been set up for the public to seek advice and report suspected cases across the country.